Simultaneous determination of six constituents in Maiwei Dihuang Pills by HPLC-DAD / 中成药

AIM To establish an HPLC-DAD method for the simultaneous content determination of six constituents in Maiwei Dihuang Pills (Ophiopogonis Radix,Schisandrae chinensis Fructus,Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata,etc.).METHODS The analysis of 50％ methanol extract of this drug was performed on a 35 ℃ thermostatic Agilent ZORBAX SB-C18column (4.6 mm × 150 mm,5 μm),with the mobile phase comprising of acetonitrile-water (containing 0.2％ phosphate acid) flowing at 0.8 mL/min in a gradient elution manner,and the detection wavelengths were set at 220,230,236 and 274 nm.RESULTS Deoxyschizandrin,schizandrin B,schisandrin,paeoniflorin,paeonol and loganin showed good linear relationships within the ranges of 10-70,6.5-45.5,33.5-234.5,17-119,31-217 and 34-238 μg/mL (r ＞0.990 0),whose average recoveries (RSDs) were 99.6％ (1.7％),100.4％ (1.8％),100.7％ (1.8％),102.9％ (1.7％),102.2％ (1.5％) and 99.7％ (1.2％),respectively.CONCLUSION This simple and reproducible method can be used for the rapid quality control of Maiwei Dihuang Pills.

Molecular Characteristics and Drug Susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Isolates from Patients Co-infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Beijing, China / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

70 clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated from AIDS patients in two HIV/AIDS referral hospitals in Beijing were used in this study. M. tuberculosis and non-tuberculosis mycobacterium (NTM) were identified by using multi-locus PCR. M. tuberculosis was genotyped by using 15-locus MIRU-VNTR technique and spoligotyping afterwards. Meanwhile, the drug susceptibilities of the strains to the four first-line anti TB drugs (rifampin, isoniazid, streptomycin, and ethambutol) and the four second-line anti-TB drugs (capreomycin, kanamycin, ofloxacin, and ethionanide) were tested with proportional method. In this study, M. tuberculosis and NTM strains isolated from AIDS patients with TB-like symptoms were identified and genotyping analysis indicated that Beijing genotype was the predominant genotype. In addition, the prevalence of drug-resistant TB, especially the prevalence of XDR-TB, was higher than that in TB patients without HIV infection.

Study on inflammatory effect of toxic raphides from Pinellia ternate and its correlation with macrophages / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the toxic mechanism of toxic raphides from Pinellia ternata.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Mouse peritoneal macrophage in vitro culture model was adopted to study dose-dependent and time-dependent curves of toxic raphides, with TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL-6 in supernatant as indexes. Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the changes in surface morphology of raphides-treated macrophages. Macrophages-neutrophils co-cultured the transport model to study the effect of toxic raphides' stimulation of macrophages on neutrophils migration.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Toxic raphides' stimulation of macrophages could cause the increase in the levels of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL-6 released, and showed dose dependence and time dependence. Scanning electron microscopy showed that toxic raphides were swallowed by macrophages, with notable cell membrane creases, increase in the number of pseudopods and decrease in integrity of cell membranes, and could significantly induce migration of neutrophils.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The inflammatory process induced by toxic raphides is mainly mediated by macrophages. The toxic mechanism of toxic raphides from P. ternata is that toxic raphides penetrate into tissues to activate resident macrophages, release phagocytic and inflammatory cytokines, and cause migration of neutrophils, which finally results in acute inflammatory response.</p>

Effect of Yupingfeng San against OVA-induced allergic asthma in mice / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of Yupingfeng San (YPFS) against OVA-induced allergic asthma in mice.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Mice were injected with OVA to establish the allergic asthma model. They were abdominally injected with 20 microg OVA on day 0 and 14, and inhaled aerosol 0.5% OVA solution for 20 min for seven days. The blank control group was administrated with equal volume of saline. YPFS groups with different doses were administrated intragastrically with YPFS every day, with the crude drug dosage of 3.25, 6.5, 13 g x kg(-1), respectively. The model group and control group were administrated with equal volume of saline. The positive control group was given intraperitoneally injected with 1 mg x kg(-1) DEX since aerosol inhalation. Blood was drawn after the last OVA aerosol inhalation to count the number of Eosnophils (Eos) in blood and detect IgE in serum; BALF was collected to count the number of cells and classify; right lung tissues were evenly grinded to detect cytokines IL-4 and IFN-gamma, and left upper lung lobes were collected for pathologic histology.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The level of Eos and IgE in serum increased significantly in the model group, and a large number of Eos were detected in BALF. Histopathological changes in lung showed bronchial serous exudation, tubular epithelial cells exfoliation, tube narrowing, widened alveolar septum, and bronchial periarterial lymphocytes infiltration. Homogenate of lung tissues showed increase of IL-4, and decrease in IFN-gamma/IL-4 ratio. YPFS groups with different doses displayed decrease of Eos in blood and BALF and IgE content in serum, and relief of pathologic changes in above models. Meanwhile, IL-4 content in homogenate of lung tissues decreased, with the increase in IFN-gamma/IL-4 ratio.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>YPFS shows the inhibitory effects on OVA-induced allergic asthma, involving down regulation of Eos and IgE levels in blood of asthma mice, and infiltration of inflammatory cells in lung tissues. Meanwhile, it can reduce IL-4 in lung homogenates, increase IFN-gamma/IL-4, and inhibits Th2 polarization.</p>

Detection of Cryptosporidium infection among HIV/AIDS patients with chronic diarrhea in Beijing, Henan and Xinjiang of China / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To investigate the Cryptosporidium infection and its epidemiological characteristics in HIV/AIDS patients with chronic diarrhea. Methods Stool samples collected from HIV/AIDS confirmed patients with chronic diarrhea who lived in Beijing, Henan and Xinjiang.Samples were concentrated by Formalin-Ethyl Acetate Sedimentation technique and stained by modified acid-fast stain (AFS) for the identification of oocysts by microscopy. CD4+T cells count was performed by Flow Cytometry. Results The overall infection rate of Cryptosporidium in AIDS patients was 12.6％(32/253). The infection rates of oocysts in the area of Beijing, Henan and Xinjiangwere 5.97％ ( 4/67 ), 16.1％ (24/149 ) and 1 0.8％ (4/37) respectively. The infection rate of oocysts in the urban areas was 6.5％(7/104) while in the countryside it was 16.8％(25/149) and the difference was significantly different. However, there were no any differences discovered between the infection rates on patient' s gender or on infection occurred in different seasons. The infectious rates of ooeyst in patients on different stages of the disease were also significantly different (P＜0.01). Conclusion AIDS patients infected by Cryptosporidium were not rarely seen in northern China. The rate of infection was not associated with patient' s gender but was associated with patient' s living environments. Patients living in the countryside, with lower lever of CD4 +T cells counts and at the middle/late stage of the disease, Cryptosporidium infection appeared to be high.